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Ankhen (1968)

First, let me give you a brief history of the Memsaab’s relationship with this movie: “Ooh! Piece of candy! Ooh! Piece of candy! Ooh! Piece of candy!” I own about five copies of it—it has always struck me as a movie I really HAVE to see, but somehow I always manage to forget that I already have it, and I’ve seen it too. I start watching my new copy, and I’m all like: “Oh, this film again.” And I shelve it right next to all my other Ankhen dvds. This is my typically verbose way of saying that it is neither a cracktastically great film nor a terrible film, but one that seems like it ought to be one or the other. Instead it is a competently made spy film with fantastic songs (Ravi) and some eye-popping fashions but little else apparently for my memory cells at least to latch onto.

Even Dharmendra is faintly boring (possibly because he has no chemistry with Mala Sinha). My favorite person in this is Lalita Pawar as Madame-Fake Auntyji, but she doesn’t really have much to do until two-thirds of the way through. It is somehow lacking the gleeful “I have no budget but that won’t stop me!” ambition which characterizes other films of the genre. Perhaps having actual funds (Ramanand Sagar made it) precludes the crazy jugaad that ensures a high level of entertainment no matter how bad the end result.

In any case, I have seen it quite a few times now and am hoping that by writing it up I will now remember that fact.

Certainly it is worth watching: the songs alone make it so, but it also has lovely locations in Beirut, Kerala and Japan, and it’s well done; the plot hangs together (mostly) and the cast is solid if not scintillating.

I love the title screen: it is so layered.

Major Sahab (Nazir Hussein) is a former fighter under Subhash Chandra Bose, a fact which makes him very proud indeed. He and some of his old soldier friends have formed a civilian (ie non-governmental) group to protect apna desh from traitors who want to destroy her by inciting communal unrest with the aid of smuggled bombs and guns.

The Major’s son Sunil (Dharmendra) is part of this group as are the two sons of one of the Major’s closest friends. Unbeknownst to everyone, one of these sons, Akram, has been seduced by the love of a girl named Lily (Daisy Irani), into betraying them.

Love him, Lily! Love him!

Lily is part of a gang led by Doctor X (Jeevan), Captain (Madan Puri) and Madame (Lalita Pawar) whose political agenda remains somewhat mysterious to me. They are in cahoots with other external (to India) agencies of evil, and they maintain an elaborate underground labyrinth rigged with explosives as security against being caught. I can already visualize the movie’s ending!

Akram is smitten enough with Lily to betray even his own brother, Salim, who is undercover on a boat carrying smuggled arms into an Indian harbor. After Salim is murdered and Major Sahab’s group thwarted in its recovery of said arms (thanks to this inventive scheme by Doctor X):

like so:

the Major sends Sunil to Beirut, from where he suspects the arms shipments are being sent. He informs Sunil that there are reinforcements waiting there in the form of Meenakshi Mehta (Mala Sinha) and another old soldier’s son, Nadeem (Sujit Kumar, who sadly passed away recently). Sunil—as we have seen through flashback—is already acquainted with Meenakshi after she basically stalked him in Japan, where he had gone for training.

She is half-Indian, half-Japanese and wholly determined to make Sunil HERS. He is not as creeped out by this as he might be (she informs him that she took a job at the post office in order to read his mail!) and she does sing him a lovely lovely song (“Milti Hai Zindagi Mein”), but he is reluctant to get involved romantically with anyone because his life’s work is so fraught with danger.

Still, he looks pleased at the prospect of seeing Meenakshi again even after he finds out that she’s been spying for his dad for a long time (of course she is also the offspring of one of the Major’s old compadres).

In Beirut, Meenakshi’s cohorts include Madhumati, Mehmood and Dhumal but not Nadeem: he is acquainted with Meenakshi, but is unaware of her links to Major Sahab’s organization. She and Madhu are working as dancers in a club owned by Mr. Syed (Sajjan), also known as Boss, whom they suspect of nefarious activities.

A fabulous song and dance ensues, with Meenakshi using her microphone to snap photos of the crowd, which includes a gori extra playing a French spy who is murdered by Syed at the end of the cabaret. It is probably the BEST EXTRA role EVER. I would be a French-spy-murder-victim in a heartbeat if someone asked me!

Seriously, I could handle that. Anyway, Meenakshi and company receive word from the Major that Sunil is on his way and it’s Meenakshi’s turn to be pleased at the impending reunion. Sunil is met at the airport by Nadeem, whom we know has been keeping cosy company with the Boss and has bugged Sunil’s hotel room. Sunil, being Dharmendra and therefore the Most Awesome Spy Ever, soon finds the listening devices after checking in; then he notices that he is being trailed wherever he goes by none other than Ram Tipnis (aka Papa Ajoba, makeup man extraordinaire).

Sunil manages to lose him by buying the fez off his waiter in a coffee shop and turning his beige jacket inside out, but he is troubled by the fact that the enemy clearly knew he was coming.

He meets Meenakshi (there is *almost* some romantic tension!) along with Mehmood, and asks them if Nadeem is completely trustworthy. Both assure him that he is, using one of my favorite Hinglish idioms.

More intrigue ensues, with poor Ram Tipnis continuing to be fooled by Sunil’s bad disguises, plus another femme fatale is introduced in the form of Algerian Princess Zenab (Zeb Rehman). Sunil continues to keep an eye on the suave Nadeem, especially after he discovers that Nadeem hangs out with Syed and the Princess (he hilariously uses a magnifying glass to peer at a large photograph).

He and Meenakshi follow Nadeem and some other guys with machine guns to a ruined fort in the harbor. There, they discover that the real Nadeem has been held captive there while his lookalike has been hand in glove with the enemy. They rescue him and I am pleased to see Meenakshi wielding her machine gun with aplomb in white high heels and tight red trousers. They further blow up the ammunitions cache inside the ancient historic monument so that Syed and company will think that the real Nadeem has died in an accidental blast.

Sunil, still being Dharmendra and thus the Best Spy Ever, remains a bit suspicious and hatches a plot to capture the other Nadeem. I will leave that for you to watch but it results in this:

They replace the fake Nadeem (now under arrest) with the real one in Syed’s gang. Sunil decides that he too will go into the lion’s den (almost literally: Syed’s code name is African Tiger) (Doctor X’s is Napoleon) and he shows Nadeem and Meenakshi a tracking device on which a needle will point to him as long as he is in a five mile range.

This strikes me as completely impractical since no doubt the needle:

will be pointing at lots of things within that five mile radius. But I simply love Sunil’s confidence when Nadeem frets that the transmitter he has to carry will be found if Sunil is captured:

Meanwhile, in India things aren’t going so well for Doctor X and his gang. In the wake of Salim’s murder, the Major is not sharing his secrets with the larger group, so Akram’s information has dried up.

Sunil’s sister Sunanda (Kum Kum) is living at the Major’s house with her son Babloo while her husband is abroad. Doctor X kidnaps little Babloo from his birthday party (the humanity!). With her son held captive, Sunanda is forced to introduce Madame into the Major’s household as her husband’s mausi (on the pretext that she has come to comfort the family in the wake of Babloo’s disappearance). Madame has soon tapped into the Major’s own secret radio communications.

Doctor X and thus of course Syed are now privy to every plan that Sunil and Meenakshi devise, and Sunil is captured after he receives a microfilm with a map of Doctor X’s lair in India from Princess Zenab, who has fallen so in love with him (he IS Dharmendra) that she betrays Syed.

Will the Major discover the spy he is now harboring in the very bosom of his family? Can Meenakshi and Nadeem and their friends rescue Sunil? Will that poor needle be able to locate him? Will Babloo survive his harrowing imprisonment?

Looking back at this post and screencaps, I have to wonder myself why this film hasn’t imprinted itself on my brain by now. It’s a fun film without doubt, and I really have no criticism of it at all. Dharmendra is his usual suave, handsome self. Even Mehmood and Dhumal are fairly restrained and entertaining, and there’s a tiger and Hiralal as a Sheikh! Mala is lovely and doesn’t overact either, and although she and Dharmendra are lukewarm together romance is not the focus of this movie. And the songs are wonderful wonderful wonderful.

So why hasn’t it been memorable for me? I have no real answers for that, except…maybe…my daily masala requirements are out of control.

77 Comments to “Ankhen (1968)”

I adore this movie and really need to see it again! When I first saw it, back in my infant Bollywood days, it was my introduction to Mala Sinha and she quickly became a favorite of mine simply because of the coolness of this film! And although I only own one copy of the DVD, I do have more then one movie poster from the film!

Dharmendra I was already acquainted with, and that is likely the reason I had bought this DVD in the first place. I had forgotten that my love Kum Kum is in it which is one reason I need to watch again. I totally “heart” Kum Kum!

I know you totally *heart* KK ;-) She spends a lot of time weeping in this but I guess if my little boy was trapped between two movable spiked walls I might too. I’m not a huge fan of Mala but she’s benign here, although I would have replaced her with Mumtaz or Sharmila, and replaced Madhumati with Helen or Laxmi or Bela :) I’m predictable!

I don’t know why I haven’t adored it…not only that but haven’t even remembered it! I think I will now though—the time spent screencapping tends to sear things finally into my Swiss cheese brain :D

Its a good post. But remember, this movie released before Aradhana (1969) and catapulted Dharmendra to the top league. His other hit of 1968 was ‘Shikar’ which was a Golden Jubilee hit.

Dharmendra and Mala Sinha were a popular pair in the 1960s. They starred together in ‘Anpadh’, ‘Pooja Ke Phool’, ‘Neela Akash’, ‘Baharein Phir Bhi Aayengi’, ‘Jab yaad kisi ki aati hai’ before ‘Aankhen’. So I am not sure if there chemistry was non-existent.

You used the word “jugaad”!
And that too exactly in the right context !
You are now officially eligible for Indian citizenship. You have passed the ultimate test :-)

I remember seeing Aankhen many years ago. I didn’t remember much of the story except that it was a spy story and that it had lovely songs. I think one of the reasons you may not consider this a “memorable” movie for you is that these sort of spy movies tend to induce a feeling, somewhere 80% into the movie, of “ok, I think I am now ready for the end”. At least that is how I feel with such movies.

I had exactly the same type of feeling with April Fool. Another movie with lovely songs. And the spy-story was not all that bad either. But somehow I got that 80% should be FF-ed to 100% feeling.

I’m with you on this one. Despite being exactly the kind of movie you’d think I’d be crazy about, I’m just lukewarm toward it. And I think you’re on to something about it perhaps being a bit too well appointed; these type of films are always better when they’re cheap, wrecklessly made and crazy (Spy in Rome, for example.)

But “well-appointed” is kind of a perfect way to put my feeling about it. There are some delightfully silly things about it…but it never strays above silly into loony territory. Might as well just be a Bond film!

I totally agree to Todd…. These type of films are always better when they’re cheap, wrecklessly made and crazy Spy in Rome was a different experience altogether!!! It was so cheap and so silly, I couldn’t help laughing throughout – was a total bakwaas. Needed suspension of everything while watching it but it was entertaining at the same time. One of the craziest movies I have ever seen and a movie I will never ever forget.

The way I think of it anyway as as the spirit of taking what you have at hand and making what you need out of it to the best of your ability. It’s a very “third world” concept, you see it everywhere in Africa too :)

The activities that are described as constituting “jugaad” in the link are more like “native ingenuity/ making do with whatever one has. “Jugaad” is basically cutting rad tape / getting doors opened quicker by making use of connections/ one’s charm. “Jugaad” that way is nothing but “resourcefulness”.

Yes, what Raja said :) I see your definition above as part and parcel of the meaning, but not the entire meaning. And honestly I meant no offense by saying that it’s a “third world” thing but needing to use “connections” or cutting through red tape is much more a daily part of life in places like Africa and India (at least as I have seen things there) than it is here. We might need to use connections on occasion, but it is not a prerequisite for getting things done on a regular basis. I hope I did not offend you, I meant none :)

Part of what I love about the post I linked to is the discussion in the comments following it among Indians as to how they view it.

True, Atul, it is also used in that manner. I tend to think it has multiple applications, the end-purpose being to say “just make it happen”. Whether this is with the use of “connections” or use of “existing resources ingeniously” or whatever. Connections are also “resources”;-)
A typical example I can think of is if you have a wait-listed ticket and just HAVE to travel on that train. You call up your friend and say “yaar, kuchh na kuchh jugaad kar” (somehow arrange it). This “somehow arranging it” is what I see as the broadest definition of jugaad. Often this means using connections, maybe paying a bribe or asking for a favour, somehow sweet-talking your way through a difficult situation…all this can comfortably be bundled under one of India’s most convenient words, JUGAAD. :-)

If you are waitlisted on train and you need to travel on it, you indeed need connections (to know the person who allots tickets under VIP quota- there is one such quota where people can get confirmed berths irrespective of their wait list). This is indeed “jugaad”, and this “jugaad” indeed means using one’s connections/ influence/charms.

I remember Aankhen very well since I saw it last weekend. And I was thinking, Memsaab should review this and as if by ESP you listened and voila!
I liked the movie a lot–it made it to my top 20 Dharmendra flicks. For one thing Mala was part of the action as opposed to being a support. I haven’t liked her in the least so far but because of this fact alone, I hereby retract all the bad things I have said about her.
Also, it’s always nice to see one’s hero so admired. In this case, Dharam has not one but two ardent stalkers. The English subtitles (erroneously) have Zenab say he is drop dead gorgeous. And he is and then she dies. So I liked this role reversal–the girls going after the guy. We see so little of it in Bolly.

I have a low libido as far as masala requirements and was ok with the fact that the biggest ambition of this movie was to reconfigure Bond for the Indian audience and to show Dharmendra in Tokyo and Beirut travelogue style. In 1969, I’d have gone to the movies for that alone.

LOL! I have done the same thing a couple of times – ordered a dvd forgetting that I already had it. But never 5 times though ;-)

As I was reading I too was very impressed, like Raja, with your use of the word ‘jugaad’ at the right time and place. Though I don’t know if you want the Indian citizenship or remain in Memsaabistan. :-)

As for the film itself, the part that excited me was Mala wielding a gun in heels and tight pants.
We may ridicule bad films but they succeed in leaving an impression.
Who can forget they saw ‘zinda dil’?
Now that’s one film whose dvd cannot be duplicated/triplicated/pentaculated. :-D

I am happy to have honorary Indian citizenship though, thank you! although my loyalty will always be primarily to Memsaabistan (Gemma’s country). Zinda Dil’s badness is receding a bit in memory, but you are right—I will never see that title and not recoil in horror instinctively :D

‘us mulk ki sarhad ko
koi chhoo nahi sakta
jis mulk ki sarhad ki
nigahbaan hain aankhen’
i guess these lines (by Sahir) from the title were quite popular cause my father and his buddies often like to quote it when they get together and talk about old times.

And I was thinking of putting together the paintings from title credits of various BR Films.

The title song was nicely subtitled as well, actually. It was quite moving. Please do a post on paintings from opening credits! The ones in this too were quite eye-popping, the giant hand cradling Mother India gently :)

The lady in the title screen is Bani Thani, a singer and poet who lived in eighteenth century in Kishangarh, Rajasthan. The painting is in the Kishangarh school of paintings. The painting has been labeled as India’s “Mona Lisa”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bani_Thani

Well you make a good point about Mala chemistry, although according to my favorite old gossip Saadat Hasan Manto she did have an ongoing affair with Pradeep Kumar for some years :)

Yes—I remember Madame’s green silk Chinese suit in particular, it was quite lovely. Lalita looked really beautiful in this film after she got out of the horrible Madame wigs and into her Fake Aunty mode. It’s a good film Banno, you should watch it. Would love to hear your take on it afterwards.

Were Madame and Lily mother and daughter? I’ve missed that link altogether :)

I just loved her for the role her! She made the whole film worthwhile.

“she basically stalked him in Japan”

a revolutionary movie for the 60s! Change of gender roles! Wow!

“Meenakshi’s turn to be pleased at the impending reunion”

Although I saw the movie in my teens, I still remember Mala Sinha’s grin, when she sees Dharmendra on the micro-film on/behind the stamp!

I was left with my mouth open at the scene with Sujit Kumar and his mask! I didn’t knew if the director was apologizing and asking me to lookt he other way or if he was taking me to be a fool and swallow it. Most probably none of the above! ;-)

“Madame has soon tapped into the Major’s own secret radio communications”

The irony of it all, Sunanda prays to the same Krishna’s idol, where the spyware is hidden! I was bowled over by the poignancy of it! ;-)

Now for the daily dose of filmi-gossip:
The famous Devyani Chaubhal wrote int he 80s in Star & Style that Ramanand Sagar was having an affair with Kum Kum at that time and his wife got along with Kum Kum quite well!

It’s funny though, I didn’t see the females stalking Dharmendra as that different from lots of Indian films…I think women often take the initiative in Hindi movies! Maybe I will need to do a separate post about that someday, but I am often struck by how aggressive females are in pursuing their love interests, even though they are quite repressed otherwise.

I imagine that sometimes wives were quite grateful to have their husband’s attentions taken elsewhere, ha ha :)

You are right! But in the 60s it wasn’t that common, was it?
I remember movie plots with the heroine stalking the hero only form the late 60s! But it is quite possible that my memory is playing tricks on me.
how about a list of your 10 fav heroine stalking hero scenes/songs/storylines? ;-)

Harvey we love daily doses of filimi gossip (particularly where Dharam is concerned). I have been wondering for some time which of his co-stars (other than Hema/Meena) he had affairs with. And for some reason, if I had to make a list of possible candidates, Mala Sinha and Rakhi would be the ones I’d think.

@sophy: an uncle of mine would always gossip that Dharam had an affair with Saira Banu and in fact she was even expecting a child from him and Dilip Kumar forced her to abort it! But knowing how Dharamendra talks highly of DK (Dilip Kumar not Donna Karen), I think it is highly improbable! But who knows?

“Meh” is the word that comes to mind and fills the heart when I think about “Aankhen.” And unlike you, I feel that way about every aspect of the movie, including the songs. Sahir’s lyrics are superb as always, but Ravi’s compositions(also, as always) are dull, dull, dull!

I think I need to listen to some Roshan-Sahir to reassure myself that there was an MD who could do justice to Sahir.:-) For example, this song:

Noooooo!!!! I LOVE RAVI! I think he has written some of the nicest melodies in Hindi movie music. He has a great range too—very “middle eastern” type of melodies, western melodies, but also really beautiful simple songs like “Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho”…I might have to do a favorite Ravi songs post now! :)

Oh well. Maybe sound is like taste, and you aren’t hearing the same thing necessarily that I am. I’ll bet you like cilantro too (I despise it) :D

:-D No, not a cilantro/coriander fan. But I LOVE mint and fennel though…:-)

As for Ravi, a friend once observed that once you’ve heard one Rafi(or Asha, Lata, etc.) for Ravi song, you’ve heard all Rafi for Ravi songs.:-D While that’s obviously an exaggeration, I’ve always thought of Ravi as a coloring-within-the-lines sort of composer – very predictable…generally.:-)

@Harvey – the other actress w/Shobha is Azra and the singer is the underrated Sudha Malhotra. The song is from “Babar”, the first collaboration between Roshan and Sahir.

Okay I like mint and fennel too so we can still be friends, ha ha :) Maybe it’s a difference in how I hear things—I don’t focus as much on individual singers’ phrasing, etc. (or the lyrics, obviously, although when they stand out and are well-translated I do) but more on the melody, just because that’s how I tend to listen to western music too. Plus I confess that all Indian female singers anyway tend to sound alike to me (sacrilege I know!). The men I can tell apart more, not sure why. What can I do? In any case I am probably a less well-rounded “listener” than most Indians.

I will make a playlist of Ravi songs that I never get tired of one of these days and make you eat your words! Flavored without cilantro (sorry Harvey!) :)

I too love Ravi’s compostions! But his songs in Aankhen are for not his best ones.
thanks for this lovely song, shalini!
Who is the other actress in the song. Shubha Khote looks lovely as usual! Who is the singer?
Cilantro is wonderful! In India I would put coriander green on nearly everything edible, maybe except sweets!

Ravi is an underrated music director. In reality, Ravi is the one music director who has composed music for the longest duration (1955 to 1989). If one makes a list of iconic songs of Bollywood music, half the songs will be Ravi’s.

oh memsaab! if i had the funds & the time to make my movies right away.. i’d so totally cast you as the “gori spy murder victim”..! I mean, none of my stories ask for a gori spy murder victim, but that’s what cinematic liberties & *dream sequences* are for, right?? (I’d so totally throw in a Helen dance number too!!) :D :D

Memsaab, tks for Ankhen posts. Mala Sinha so goregous, Dharm beautifulll!! Age of Innocence. I have yet to see any heroine of Mala’s Chrisma. WHAT A BEAUTY…and tks for Ravi’s list of songs…Love each and every song posted here. I heard these songs in the next couple years after being released, OH Radio Kashmir and Radio Ceylon…Remember those days being 9/10…I really do wish they would have another Mala Sinha, but it doesn’t look like it…feel bad that Pratibha didn’t succeed after beautiful talented Mom….

FIVE copies of Aankhen?! Thats not forgetfulness, thats your Dharam-love shining through. You have been suppressing it for Shammi, but your sub-conscious wont let you suppress it anymore. Admitting it is the first step to curing the problem! ;-)

I love this film to bits – every flashing light and face mask and everything else in it. It has all my favorite masala elements (including cilantro! ;-D) mixed in exactly the right proportion and super suave Garam Dharam. If that isnt enough, there are International beggars, too. Yeh dil does not maange more!

I don’t think you misread anything :) I fell over laughing—I am only a little unsure about whether it was intentional or not (subtitling, I of course did not understand what he actually said). These kinds of dialogues seem to occur relatively often with Garam Dharam though ;-)

I saw this movie recently too. Yes, memsaab, it works well as a spy flick considering ‘those days’ but the film needed a Hema malini or a Rekha to enliven the romantic proceedings although this is still Mala sinha’s one of the finest roles ever..

Hi Greta, if you still have a copy of this film can you please give me a a nice close up pf Daisy Irani without subtitles. Similarly if you have the colored version of Naya Daur, could you get a capture from there when she was a kid. Thanks.

ANKHEN1968,but I personaly saw this movie on its rerelease in1973 when IT had began to understand cinema, if this was 1968,it shound have coincided with BAAZI 1967,YAKEEN 1969, and KAB? KYON?AUR KHAAN?1970,all three we’re suspence thrilers,had another thing in comen,our own respected DHARAM uncle,apart from this triolgy,the other three though cannot be classified into suspence/thrilers,but in there own way into being thrilers,and they were DO CHOR 1972,KEEMAT1973 and last one CHARAS1976,all six were hugely succesful ,with super hit music.Back to this movie ANKHEN was takeoff from James Bond movie,with unique indian way by sagars,though in my mind when I see this movie now,or to last few years I Will edit about three songs from movie to make it more pacy, Respected DHARAM gave one of their best performance,not to forget that this was their first outing with SAGARS which was further carried to so many movies,I can also figure out that apart from Dharam uncle,late Sujeet uncle,Mala aunty,Kum Kum aunty,and Rajinder uncle use to intergal part of SAGARS camp,not to forget late Nazir Hussainda.Not many people that right from begning of Dharam uncles career ,from his first movie to their last movie Late nazir hussain,and Rehmanda,they were intergal part of Dharam uncles movie,inthere case last movie was RAJPUT april 1982.Personaly I feel that despite height being hindernes somewhat but noway this came inbetween of her being full of exuberence,magical and bombastic,in three movies of her,namely,NIGHT IN LONDON 1967/68,ANKHEN1968,and third one being BEWQOOF1960 I suppose,this movie too can be counted as cult classic,fourty five after its release,even today it can be watched with same zest.RAVINDER MINHAS,JALANDHAR CITY,PANJAB,minhas35@yahoo.com.